Hopper freight car



il 5 1927. Apr J. A. sHAr-ER HOPPERTREIGHT CAR Filed July 10. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1927. 1 623,071 April 5 J. A. sHAFER 1 UPPER FREIGHT CAR Filed July 1o. 1925' 2 shuts-sheet z .Zfvvmvrolr d, MW, JY k 1 Patented Apr.l 5, 1927.

PATENT ortica.

JAMES A. SHAFER, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK. i

norrnr. ramene CAP..

Application filed July' i0,

My invention relates in general to `hopper freight cars, and in particular to the doors arranged at the bottom of the hoppers of such cars.

It is well known to those skilled in the art that hopper doors allow loss of the contents of the car unless they are accurately fitted at their butting edges. This is rather difh'cult and seldom done, owing to the roughness of the work, and hence the shippers are constantly making claims against the rail road company for losses entailed by leakage of the load through illy fitted hopper doors.

In my invention I have sought to overcome the above disadvantages by providing doors for cars which are arranged to have overlapping means, thus sealing any opening which might exist between the butting edges of the doors.

Another object has been to provide means whereby the production in manufacturing the cars or repairing old cars may be increased owing' to the fact that fitting of doors does not require such accuracy in order to meet the car inspector-s requirements.

Finthcrmore, hopper doors fitted with my invention do not require to be tightly closed inv order to seal the joint since my invention will not only allow' for inaccuracy in the fitof the doors, but also, within reasonable limits, will permit the doors to be slightly open at their edges.

Moreover, by my invention, I cut down the number of parts necessary to hold the doors closed, which not only results in a saving of material but in time and labor in fitting and assembling.

The above objects and advantages have been accomplished by the device shown in the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a gondola car of the twin hopper type.

Fig. 2 is a. fragmentary. sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, transverse, sectional view taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Figs. t and 5 are modified forms of construction.

In the drawings, the car 10 is shown as having two hoppers 13, arranged at each side of the longitudinal center line of the car. It is obvious that, while I have shown in the drawings but two pairs of doors 11 and 12, cars of this kind have a number of pairs eX- tending lengthwise of the car. As will be clear, these doors are arranged at the bottom 19'25. Serial No. 2,628

of each Vhopper 13 and between the slope sheets '31 thereof. Y

As 1s li-isnral 1n car construction, each ofthe doors 11 and 12 is hinged 'at 1e; to the slope sheets 81 of the hopper 13 and swings in-l wardly toward the cen-ter of the hopper. The doors, as is customary, are sealed at their side edges by door stops 15 and attheir hinged edgesV by the overlapping hopper slope sheets 31. In order to seal the doors at their inner or adjacent edges, where leakage of the load always occurs, I provide a retaining plate 16 which is preferably secured to the edge of the door 11 and overlaps the joint between the doors, extending4 some distance beyond the butt-ing edge of the door 12.

The arrangement of the load retaining plate 16 is such that the door 11 will besupported by and held closed by the door 12, which alone is provided with the usual door beam 17. This door beam, of course, extends across the car and engages with the door 12 on the opposite side thereof. The

door 11 is not provided with a door beaml and thus .the material of a second door beam as well as the coacting parts and connections'are saved. Labor is also saved by the omission of this door beam and the weight of the car is lessened. A hook 23 is provided for each of the doors 11, whereby they will be temporarily held closed while the door 12 is being closed. The door beam 17 may be operated by any suitable and well known means such as the operating shaft 18, which is connected by means of a sprocket chain 19 to a crank 20, t0 which is connected a link 21. The lower end of the link is connected with an eye bolt 22 carried by the door beam. This operating mechanism does not form a part of' my invention and, therefore, is not shown or described in detail.

In Fig. 4c I show a fragmentary View in which doors 25 and 26 are shown, the door 26 having the load retaining plate 27 secured thereto and extending over the lower surface of the edge ofthe door 25. The door beam 17 is preferably secured underneath the load retaining plate 27. Y

In the form of invention shown in Fig. 5, the door 28 is provided with a lip 29 which engages the under surface of the door 80, whereby the jolint between the doors is closed. The door beam 17 is, of course, secured to the door 28.

When the hopper doors of a car provided with my invention are to be closed, the doors 1l are swung upwardly and engaged by the hooks 23 which hold them temporarily closed. The doors l2 are then Closed by the operating means hereinbefore described. As the doors 12 are being closed they will engage with the retaining` plate 16, whereby a further closing of the doors 12 Will Serve to close the doors 1l also.

Obviously, some modiiications of the details herein shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, or the scope of the appended 15 claim, and I do not, therefore, Wish to be limited to the exact embodiment herein oontained.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

A hopper freight ear, comprising,` doors pivotally carried at the bottom of the hopper, a door beam carried by one only of the doors, one of the doors being provided with means overlapping the other door when in their closed positions, and vmeans for operating one only of the doors.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

JAMES A. SI-IAFER. 

